Mulch or Fiction

Amy and Nicholas are playing at a Pro Tour Qualifier, and during Amy’s turn she casts Mulch revealing the top 5 cards, which are 4 copies of Grizzly Bears and then a Plains, in that order.

Realizing her error immediately, Amy laughs and shows Nicholas a Grisly Salvage from her hand, which she was thinking about when she revealed the fifth card. Amy calls out “Judge!”

 

 

 

During the investigation, you discover that Terminus has been cast and a Glory Seeker is on the bottom of Amy’s library. What is the most appropriate infraction, penalty, and any additional fix?

Judges, feel free to discuss this scenario here!

View Answer
What we have here (as many of you nailed) is a Looking at Extra Cards infraction. It’s very tempting to call this a Game Rules Violation, however what has actually happened here is looking at too many cards. Remember that really all Game Play Errors are Games Rule Violations, it’s our job to see if they fit more appropriately into another infraction.

Now on to what this implies. Since Amy has committed Looking at Extra Cards, she receives a warning. We also have the additional fix of offsetting the information she has gained. The Grizzly Bears were revealed correctly, and as such can remain where they are. The Plains on the other hand needs to be reinserted into the library. In order to accomplish this we first (in accordance with the IPG) set aside any known cards, in this case Glory Seeker, re-randomize the library and then replace Glory Seeker on the bottom. The players may then continue happily! As for Nicholas, since the players called a judge quickly after the error happened, and before advantage could be gained, Failure to Maintain Gamestate does not apply.